philly

1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

via Trace >> Craigslist

I went and caught the 12.20a showing of Lady in the Water at The Bridge. It was annoyingly the assigned seating film. But my seat was fine and there weren't a lot of people in the theater anyways.

I've read numerous times of the struggles it took to get this film out. The fights M. Night Shyamalan had with Disney and the yelling match that went down at a Center City restaurant in full view of everyone inside. The Daily News inked this article just before the film opened.

"The most important thing that happened out of that dinner, that conversation with Disney, was that I heard them say everything [I'd always feared]. You're insane," said the director, speaking to reporters in New York, recalling his fateful meeting with Disney execs Dick Cook and Nina Jacobson (who, ironically, was fired Tuesday) concerning his "Lady" script, about a tormented building super (Paul Giamatti) who finds a magical creature in the pool.

Bottom line, they didn't get it.

Sea nymph in a swimming pool? Invisible hyena dogs? Monkeys watching from the trees? They had questions, criticisms, suggestions, and Shyamalan was looking for enthusiasm, support, praise.

I loved it. I don't think it's for everyone though. You have to be able to let go. To really get sucked into a film. Let it take you places. Open yourself up. Without giving anything away, I'll just paraphrase one line from the film. One of the residents of 'The Cove' - the apartment complex Paul Giamatti is the landlord of - blurts out that he wanted to believe in the story more than anyone; that he wanted to believe like he was a child again. You gotta let go.

This is the third Shyamalan film I've seen and the third one I've very much enjoyed, the other two being The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. His films are different and it seems that Hollywood hates him for it. I heard him on NPR [18 min] last week talking about this film and of his past films and his dealings with the Hollywood press. He thinks that they hate him because he doesn't live in Hollywood and act all "Hollywood". He thinks they hate him because he has the audacity to be as creative as his mind wants to be. To weave stories together intricately and have fun with his audience. I love his films for it. He's not just some scary movie guy, he's a solid story teller who constantly has you wanting more. Whether it be on the edge of your seat in anticipation or sunk deep into it in apprehension. He's good.

This one's a keeper. I hope it takes in $300M or so and that he shoves it down the throats of those punks who keep on trying to put him down.

Illustration: Warner Bros.

The [fuzzy] picture above is from yesterday's tear-off of my The Daily Show Calendar and I laughed out loud. We're almost at an immeasurable amount right now.

Save the planet: If you have a water cooler at work and you drink from it, bring your own damn cup/mug/glass/bottle to work and refill it instead of wasting the paper/styrofoam/plastic cups in the dispenser.

I caught it at 7.05p and it went through 7.09p. That was about as dry and wooden as a person could be without spontaneously combusting John Kerry style.

***UPDATE
The text of the speech can be found via .pdf here and the video is available in the KYW library here. I'm reprinting the plain text of the speech in the extended entry.

(more…)

Reading this post by Dan Savage [via Booman Tribune] my opinion of Casey has gone down… even more - apparently it's possible.

Dan Savage, the editor of The Stranger out in Seattle and also a nationally syndicated sex columnist, really fucking hates Man on Dog. Who doesn't? He's been hawking for Casey for a little while now too. So, he sent Casey a $2,100 check, the legal limit. Great, right? Savage writes:

The Casey campaign was grateful for my support. The day my check arrived at Casey HQ a staffer called to thank me for the dough and invited me to a Casey event taking place the same night in Seattle. Casey was going to be in town and I was personally invited to come meet Casey and get my picture taken with the candidate.

Now that's what I'd expect from a candidate who is a lame campaigner [has he been to an event ever here in Philly that didn't cost $10K] who doesn't meet with le people. A candidate who is a dipshit conservative. A person whose views are moderate Republican at best in my eyes. Get some of that gay vote with Savage's support eh? Well, maybe not.

Jake Perry, finance director for Bob Casey, just called to tell me that Bob Casey is returning my check.

Here's Jake: "We appreciate your willingness to support Bob, but my higher ups… people above me… they think that we may wind up spending more, you know, money then the contribution is worth. But we appreciate your willingness to support us."

Uh… you're welcome, I guess.

Jake explained that the Casey campaign is worried that Santorum's flying monkeys—not their words—will spot my name on their campaign finance reports and raise holy hell about Casey taking money from me.

Brilliant!

I can't stand it when politicians do things like this because they're scared shitless of what the potential media fallout could be. Stick to your fucking guns and go with it! This guy is a spineless dipshit who will not be getting any of my help at any point in time forseeably ever. He's a coward. He's a fake. He's a phony. He's a fuckwad. Savage still thinks he's a better alternative to Man on Dog though. I don't.

***UPDATE
Some research from the Pennacchio campaign blog of people Casey is just fine taking money from here, here and here.

Sometimes life just isn't a clear picture. Well, actually, it's more of a rarity that it is or will be. Sometimes you can eat a gigantic meal, but still feel hungry. But if you happen upon a bite of Elvish Lumbas bread, you'll be full for the day.

There's something to handheld, from the hip, slow shutter photography. Fellow Flickrite melon vacation [Mel on vacation, get it?] commented that it has a certain je ne sais quoi and I couldn't agree more. The above shot of a couple clusters of black eyed Susans on the north or east slope of grass at the base of the Society Hill Towers mound was created simply by moving my hand from left to right, camera in hand, with a slow shutter speed [1/4 second] and without framing the shot through the viewfinder.

Life's unpredictable. Like the results of a photo. I have a general goal when taking a shot like this, but you never know exactly how it'll turn out. Trial and error.

Do, or do not. There is no try. - Yoda.

I had read about the profits BP raked in this quarter - $7.27B in profits and the $55K/min number we've been hearing for the quarter - but I knew that Exxon-Mobil would beat them out.

And then I read that Royal Dutch Shell raked in $7.32B in profits this quarter as their oil production actually decreased 8% for the quarter. They produced less oil and took in more money. Their fuckface CEO Jeroen van der Veer had the gall to state that their rise in profits weren't "simply high energy prices" but their general performance. Fuck you. The price per barrel of oil is up $18 since the same time last year.

And finally I read that Exxon-Mobil's profits went up 36% from the same time last year to an almost record-breaking $10.36B. Who holds the #1 spot? Well, Exxon-Mobil of course. They hit $10.71B in 4Q 2005, the quarter after Hurricane Katrina [they made just under $10B the quarter Katrina hit whilst gouging prices].

So for Exxon-Mobil, let's do some math…

2Q 2006: $10.36B, 1Q 2006: $8.4B, 4Q 2005: $10.71B, 3Q 2005: $9.92B = $39.39B in profits for the last year. With the two highest quarterly profits and revenue numbers ever for an American company. They really know how to look out for the little guy, eh?

But on a brighter note, Google's finance pages have been revamped with a really cool flash-based graph. You can play with Exxon-Mobil's sickening numbers here. But if you really want to blow your mind away with huge numbers, take a click over to Berkshire Hathaway's Class A stock; no, that comma is not misplaced.

***UPDATE 7.28.06
Chevron - the one who named an oil tanker named after former Director ('91-'01), but has since renamed - posted a record-breaking quarter for the company at $4.35B in profits. This brings the total profits of the big five [Exxon-Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips and Chevron] oil companies to $35 Billion.

I'm on a conference call via Politics Philly and it was just announced that Houston and Philly have been dropped from the possible venues for the 2016 Olympics. Remaining are Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I'd love to see an Olympics in Chitown or SF.

Maybe next time.

Just doing some quick math on my biking habits for the last two months since it's been consistently nice enough outside to bike to work… [I've been keeping track using my Google Calendar]

By the end of this week [barring rain] I'll have been biking to work for a solid eight weeks. I will have biked thirty-three out of thirty-nine days of work [I called in sick last week once]. It rained a couple times a week at the end of last month and a few days this month so I took the train. I've saved $85.80 in train fare which is pretty bitchin. I only do tokens now after advice from Danie that it really isn't worth it to buy the monthly pass unless I transfer to buses often which I don't [do the math yourself and see if you'll save money as well].

I also bike to the field when playing ultimate and soccer on the weekends too. With all that, my total milage is somewhere around 345mi. I should be able to keep this up for another eight weeks or so.

On Monday, I saw more people on bicycles than ever before. To and from work from east of Broad all the way out past UPenn, it was pretty awesome. Lots of smiles and nods as we pedaled by each other.

Anyone else taking part in the bicycle revolution for a season or two?

Lady and I went to Asia on the Parkway instead of the Gore book signing last week. While not as exciting as meeting the sweaty lunk himself, it was better than sitting around in a gym cordoned off like lab rats with yellow caution tape. Not too shabby. Our take on the place.